Saturday, July 12, 2003 | 3:49 a.m.
THERE IS GOOD REASON to be a pessimist about peace efforts succeeding in the Middle East. Any human being who isn't tired of the suicide bombing and bloodshed should have their own body checked for a missing heart. Wishing for peace, which has failed so many times in recent years, has become the feeding ground for pessimism.
We must remember the Islamic Jihad and Hamas have only declared a cease-fire. At least a half dozen cease-fires have been declared and broken since Yasser Arafat turned his back on peace almost three years ago and left Washington to rekindle the fires of terrorism.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon give every indication that they want peace. As a frequent observer in that area I know the need for a true peace because too much innocent blood has been shed. Body parts of Israeli school children scattered on the road beside a smoldering bus is enough to make any person cry out for an end to the killing. The terrorists who planned the bombing, hiding behind the skirts of their own wives, children and neighbors have led to the loss of innocent Palestinian blood.
So why wouldn't any human being want this to end? The slim hope for peace will always be a threat to those who hate. Arafat and his cronies have made a luxurious living out of hating and teaching their followers that the Jews must be killed and driven into the sea.
Efforts by the United States and some European countries to buy peace has only resulted in Arafat's foreign bank deposits to grow. Arming a new Arafat Palestinian police force brought not order but the use of the weapons to kill Israelis and protect Palestinian terrorists. The Palestinian Authority was to control the killers and instead its armed police gave them cover and encouragement. You couldn't tell the cops from the killers. Many times they were the same people.
President George W. Bush soon realized that Arafat felt more comfortable directing terrorism than he did running a good government for the Palestinians. The president saw that Arafat wasn't a channel to peace but just another thug misusing his power. Bush refused any future personal meetings with Arafat and insisted that our diplomats no longer waste their time with him. This action contributed to Arafat reluctantly allowing Abbas to become a figurehead as prime minister. Since that time Arafat has been pulling the strings to keep Abbas from succeeding in finding a peaceful solution and cooperating with Sharon. Despite this undercutting, Abbas and Sharon have made some progress.
With all of these difficulties, including the condemning of Sharon by his own extremists, the biggest bump in the road to peace are the organized Palestinian terrorists and Arafat. A most recent example is the outrageous demand by the terrorists that all Palestinians held by the Israelis be released now. Although Israel has released several hundred prisoners, the country finds it counterproductive to turn loose those convicted of planning terrorism and killing Jews. Despite their concern, they have released at least one killer who has been in prison for 28 years. Americans can't imagine our president emptying our prisons of convicted murderers because of some diplomatic agreement.
Greg Myre of The New York Times reports from Jerusalem that "Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, the group responsible for many suicide bombings against Israel, said a truce declared last week could not be sustained if Israel did not meet Palestinian demands. 'We are patient, but patience has limits,' he said. 'The demand for the release of Palestinian prisoners is a red line which we cannot pass.' "
There is good reason to believe that Hamas has only agreed to a cease-fire to gain enough time to reorganize. The Israeli tactic of targeting their leaders had them nervous and near panic. Now they have gained new strength with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Bethlehem. With the freedom of several key killers, Hamas would next be seeking new ways to trigger an Israeli reaction they can use as an excuse for more violence. If it wasn't the demand to release all terrorists it would be some other demand.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and other groups of organized terrorists haven't changed their stripes. What has been changed are their tactics which should come as no surprise to observers who have watched them for the past 20 and 30 years.
Yes, I still have hope for peace in the Middle East, but knowing the players and their records my hopes are very slim. Right now the pessimists are much closer to reality than are the optimists when it comes to believing peace will soon reign in the Middle East.
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